Programmable Network Node Roles in Hierarchical Communications Network

2. The method of claim 1, assigning one of the at least one peripheral nodes as a current master node being implemented in response to the power level of the master node dropping below a power threshold level.

3. The method of claim 2, the power threshold level being a fixed power threshold level.

4. The method of claim 2, the power threshold level being a relative threshold level compared to the at least one peripheral node.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting the master node based on one of the plurality of tracking devices having the longest range.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting the master node based on one of the plurality of tracking devices having the highest remaining power level.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, at the current master node, communications from the plurality of tracking devices; and relaying the communications to a gateway device.

9. The method of claim 8, the querying occurring according to a schedule prescribed in programmatic Global Scheduling Description Language (GSDL) code that programs each peripheral node in the hierarchy of a plurality of tracking devices with at least one of a communication schedule and processing event schedule relevant to each peripheral node.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, from the master node or the current master node to the at least one peripheral nodes, programmatic Global Scheduling Description Language (GSDL) code defining a communication schedule for each of the at least one peripheral nodes.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising verifying presence of nodes in a designated logistic group of the plurality of tracking devices based on responses to ping packets received at the master node or the current master node.

13. The method of claim 12, the identifying discrepancy including identifying non-responsive ones of the peripheral nodes.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising logging ID of each non-responsive peripheral node, and reporting the ID to a higher level in the hierarchy.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising receiving a response to the ping packet from another node not in the designated logistic group; the identifying discrepancy including identifying the another node.

16. The method of claim 15, further including logging ID of the another node, and reporting the ID to a higher level in the hierarchy.

17. The method of claim 12, the ping packets being transmitted according to a prescribed schedule defined by programmatic Global Scheduling Description Language (GSDL) code that programs each peripheral node in the hierarchy of a plurality of tracking devices with at least one of a communication schedule and processing event schedule relevant to each peripheral node.